In the past years as I taught digital photobooking, then a Life Story course, and most recently added the Family History Bootcamp, I consistently saw a struggle going on with some students that derailed them. In fact, despite multiple times saying they “really want” to do this course or that project, they never did get it done.
Yes, there were many who did complete the trainings and accomplish a successful conclusion – the project was done, the goal was accomplished and they reaped the benefits.
Of course, there is a “messy middle” of some folks who got started, had interruptions, later picked it up for a bit and then got sidetracked again.
I get it – I have done the same – finished some, dropped some completely and still tell myself I am going to complete others. What is going on here? Am I alone in this problem – both as a provider of courses and as a consumer of them?
An online source I read ventured an industry statistic that only 1 in 10 finish courses they buy. Another source stated “up to 85% of students don’t finish online courses”. They went on to cite the reasons: boredom, lack of time, expectations vs. reality, technical issues, no motivation to continue.
After reading these, I did not feel so bad about myself and the number of people I had witnessed who lacked completion of their once-desired goal. It was well-stated in that the “lack of time” reason seemed associated with people looking for a fast and easy way to boost skills (or accomplish a task), but then realizing they don’t have the time to listen to long lectures and complete the assignments.
Would it surprise you that busyness was a problem even in biblical days? And it is worth going a bit deeper on this. Especially if we want to understand and manage our lives well. I would like to know the root of the issue – and what to do about it.
Busyness is something I hear from a ton of people. Being too busy to handle it all, getting stressed, overwhelmed and then defaulting to anger over it all – not a good path.
Henry Blackaby, in his Experiencing God Day by Day devotional took me to some core principles to examine. He caught my attention when he said that people will challenge the good that you are practicing. Your time to pray, study Scripture, be with your family, and serve your church will all be pressured by the many other time demands you face.
He was so right, so I sat up straight when he added that “Scripture reveals the solution for holding on to what is good”. Great – what is it? I was a bit taken aback by his answer – “abstain from every form of evil.” Well, duh! Wouldn’t I try to do that anyway? But how does evil tie in to being overwhelmed by busyness?
He went on – I needed more insight! Prayer is a wonderful gift from God yet sin robs the power of prayer (Isaiah 1:15). Then he adds that if we do not abstain from evil, it will rob us of the good things God has given. And God’s commandments do not restrict us: they free us to enjoy every good thing God has for us.
Then he got a little closer to what I was searching for – he said to hold fast to what is good, or the world will take it away. “Satan is the relentless enemy of good.” To prove the point:
**Satan saw what God gave Adam & Eve was good, so he set about to take it away.
**Satan saw King David was pleasing to God so he attempted to destroy David’s relationship with God.
**Satan saw Jesus baptized and pleasing his Father and approached Jesus in the wilderness as he was doing his 40 days of fasting offering 3 challenging temptations which would have brought Jesus to sin.
**and so many more examples throughout Scripture
But do we just throw up our hands and blame it all on Satan? Blackaby directs us to never take the good in our life for granted – that is what he meant by “hold fast” – hold on to it firmly, it may be lost. But it brings the mindset we need to value and keep active in our life.
Managing our time wisely is a biblical principle – we are encouraged to prioritize our activities. Yep, that struck home with me – and I feel it is a key. So help me out – how do I prioritize?
Ephesians 5:15-16 affirms this saying “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” That hit home – I did a blog several months back on the ‘days are evil’ verse and really dug into it at that time. It fits now as well.
My point in that blog was that time is a gift from God, and none of us know how much of it we are allotted. So God wants us to live in constant awareness of that ticking clock and make the most of the time we have. Also, “distractions” were as prevalent in biblical times as they are now! So we need to “listen up” and realize biblical wisdom is there for us, too!
Want motivation? Mindset help? Try these:
**”Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Colossians 3:23)
**”Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans”. (Proverbs 16:3)
**”Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
In the hustle and bustle of life, it’s easy to let our relationship with God take a backseat. Prioritizing Him is essential, and these verses remind us to seek Him first in all that we do. When we make God a priority, we invite His presence into our lives, allowing Him to direct our paths and ease our busyness. So that makes me add a few more verses that direct our focus:
**”But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
**”Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
We need to simplify things first. We tend to complicate things, but God often calls us back to a more straightforward way of living. Embracing simplicity means prioritizing what truly matters—our relationship with God and the people around us.
God encourages us to prioritize stillness and manage our time wisely, reminding ourselves always to keep God at the center – mindful living. For me, I will need to remember how struck I am by the thought of “evil” creeping into my “to do” list, daily activities, and not evaluating up front commitment to so many things so quickly that I end up drowning in busyness.
That alone I hope will make me pause, think about my priorities and how this “new” item wants to jump on my “busyness” list and what impact it will have on me and others around me. But most importantly, is it within God’s will for me. Does it align with His will, the scriptures I quoted above, and is it investing in what would reflect God’s love and purpose in my daily life.
That’s the best description of prioritizing – may I remember it!
